SAMSUNG GALAXY S8 – Detailed Review

Samsung Galaxy S8 offers much smaller dimensions than its larger sibling. However, it is made of the same materials – both Corning Gorilla Glass 5 glass hinged on the sides, front and rear, the frame is made of metal and almost identical are the controls and their positioning.

Perhaps the biggest change is the absence of the Home button on which Samsung smartphone users were accustomed. Life is a change and sometimes needs to be adapted. Our hardware button Home did not go down on this device, on the contrary, we were happy that Samsung did not place it here. As a result, the front could be fully occupied by the display, which was also the intention of the manufacturer. The 5.8-inch display unit is hidden in the dimensions that today have devices with 5-5.5 inch displays.

The fingerprint reader that has been integrated with the Home button has been moved to the back. In the case of the Galaxy S8 + we have read his impractical placement, but in the case of the smaller version of the Samsung Galaxy S8, we have no reservations regarding the location of the fingerprint reader. The only downside is that when used, it can quickly dirt the lens of your camera so you will need to clean it more often. This fact is compounded by the presence of a heart rate sensor, which is also close to the lens of the camera.

Samsung also offers IP68 water and dust resistance for the smaller Galaxy S8. This allows the device to be kept 1.5 meters below the water level for 30 minutes, but in practice, we would definitely not recommend this to test. However, you can safely use this device in a damp environment or during rain or snow.

The design of the smaller Samsung Galaxy S8 we like more than the Galaxy S8 + and is much better held and used in one hand. We did not even feel the placement of the fingerprint reader on the back of the device, because it is easily palpable with these dimensions of the smartphone and its use is seamless. Overall, the design of this model and its processing are really interesting. Many call the Samsung Galaxy S8 one of the most beautiful smartphones you can buy today, and we have to say that we also agree with them.

DISPLAY

The Samsung Galaxy S8 + and the Samsung Galaxy S8 feature a 1440 x 2960 pixel display. The difference is that while the Samsung Galaxy S8 + offers this resolution at 6.2 “diagonal, the smaller of the models offer it at a diagonal of 5.8”. Thus, the pixel density is remarkable ~ 570 PPI. The non-traditional display is the aspect ratio. While conventional smartphone displays offer a standard 16: 9 aspect ratio, the Samsung Galaxy S8 offers a ratio of 18.5: 9, which is close to the ratio of the film.

Although the user has the advantage of displaying more data on the display, in practice, they have to count on the content around which the black bars will appear on the display. However, Samsung has handled it handy – for example, when viewing videos, you can see a “expand” button on the screen that extends the image across the screen. However, part of the content is lost.

The display itself is made with the Super AMOLED technology, which offers traditionally very bright colors and excellent readability in direct sunlight. It’s a little complicated by the curved sides of the screen, but you’ll get used to it for a while. The durability of the display is also in this case the old Corning Gorilla Glass 5 glass, which should guarantee a higher display resilience than its predecessor. Nevertheless, we recommend that you get a foil or durable glass on the display.

The new thing about the Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone is the 3D Home button. This is always displayed on the Always On display and after longer holding it, you can wake the display and go directly to unlock it. Those of you who are accustomed to the Home button will definitely appreciate this feature. In settings, you can change the pressure you want to respond to, or adjust the layout and background color of the system software buttons.

Samsung has added a number of display software to its latest model. You can find a blue light filter, several screen modes, color temperature adjustment, change font and font size, and display content in 3 different resolutions. HD + (1480 x 720 px), FHD + (2220 x 1080 px) and full resolution WQHD + (2960 x 1440 px) are available. Of course, we have used the highest, full resolution during the test, but you can choose a lower resolution if you want to get more battery life. Positive is the presence of this option at all.

Of course, when displaying the display, we can not omit the side display, a feature that many of you are used to. This is the ability to practically use the curved edge of the display to view current information, favorite contacts, or other features. You’ll find app panels, smart choices, device maintenance, tasks, or other content. You can even download new panels through a separate Samsung store. We also enjoyed the presence of the Always On screen, which gives you an overview of missed events, time and basic information. The Samsung Galaxy S8 offers several graphical display options on the Always On screen. The advantage is also the ability to set up widgets on a locked screen to control, for example, the music player or the alarm clock.

In the last few days, the Galaxy S8 redesigned case has been brought to public attention. Although this is not the case for our device, it is an important issue that Samsung should remove in the near future. It is said that screen blushing can be removed by software upgrades, but Samsung has not yet made an official statement on how to make this update available.

PERFORMANCE & MEMORY

The performance of this device takes on the truly powerful Exynos 8895 Octa 8-core architecture (4 x 2.3 GHz & 4 x 1.7 GHz), the Mali-G71 MP20 graphics chip and 4 GB of RAM. While competitors of this device, especially from China, also offer 6 GB of RAM, Samsung has decided that its efforts are rather optimizing the system. We do not feel bad at all. The Samsung Galaxy S8 is an excellently tuned device and during the testing process we did not face any hesitation in performance.

As far as memory is concerned, the Samsung Galaxy S8 offers as much as its larger twin 64 GB storage, of which almost 50 GB is available for user data itself. However, if you do not, you can extend your device’s memory by 256 GB of storage capacity, which can be inserted into the slot next to the nanoSIM card.

A novelty in the new Samsung system is Smart Cleaner based on Clean Master. He can kill background processes and clear unnecessary files from the device to “optimize performance.” We could discuss the real benefits of this app, but we were delighted that Samsung put it directly into the system optimized and so the user does not need to install any alternative.
The TouchWiz is known for its effects and rich software. This usually reflects on the use of the operating memory. In our case, it offered an average of 600-800 MB of available resources, which is not much, but it was enough for the normal running of the system and the rapid launch of applications. During testing, we did not encounter overheating, which was only reflected when the benchmarks were running during charging. We did not even have a problem with any game from Google Play.

OS & MULTIMEDIA

Samsung has decided to renames its popular Android superstructure and will not be named Samsung TouchWiz, but Samsung Experience. The whole environment has gone through design changes, has been modified to a more modern look and Samsung has even changed the font in some parts of the system. In many cases, however, this superstructure is similar to pure Android, especially when looking at the notification bar or app menus that can be opened in a straightforward gesture like in the case of Android 7.0 Nougat.

The biggest innovation of the operating system in the Samsung Galaxy S8 is probably the intelligent assistant Bixby. This is an alternative to Google Assistant (Google Now), and in the near future it should also bring support for voice control. So far, however, it works on the contextual display of information based on how you use your device. DeX desktop mode is very practical, and this device can be used when connected to a dedicated dock as a computer.

As far as multimedia is concerned, the Samsung Galaxy S8 can handle seamlessly. On a large, fine-resolution display, you can conveniently view 4K video, but with long-term viewing, expect it to warm up slightly. Format 18.5: 9 is also not best suited for watching serials, but you will get used to the black bars on the sides of the screen.

To play music on this device, use the Google Play Music app, Samsung has given up its own Music title. However, you have a Gallery app that offers you advanced features and capabilities. The musical performance of the attached headphones is really great, but a little louder is a loud speaker. He did not make any changes over the past year.

CAMERA

Samsung has decided not to increase the number of pixels but will try to improve the quality of the existing sensor (1 / 2.5 “, pixel size 1.4 μm). That’s why the new Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 + possess “only” 12 megapixel camera, but the quality is one of the best you can buy today. With advanced optical stabilization, you can also capture very nice photos in poor light conditions. What’s worse, however, is the format of captured photos (4: 3). For a 16: 9 traditional movie you only have 9 Mpix resolution available.

Shamefully, it deserves the traditionally excellent camera application. Let us argue that Samsung has one of the best automatic shooting modes that you will never need to switch to professional mode. However, if you do so, there are a lot of adjustment options and shooting settings waiting for you. These are exposure, white balance, focus, effect, shutter (1/24000 to 10 seconds!) And ISO (50 to 800). In addition, you can choose different exposure measurements (matrix, spot and center) or focus area.

In addition, the camera also features separate panorama modes, selective focus (all subjects on the photo will be sharp), slow motion, hyper-shot, special mode for meals, or virtual pictures. You can upload the video at a maximum resolution of 4K. We put the photo samples directly into the article so you can make your own views.

What is to be appreciated is the fact that Samsung has incorporated the lens of the camera directly into the construction, so it does not shake it off. It’s a matter of time that will cause it with a durable camera glass and a back cover that will be exposed directly to the surface on which you put the device, but we will praise this step. Negative, however, is the faster staining of the lens due to the proximity of the fingerprint reader.

CONNECTIVITY

What you can do with the Internet connection, you can use the Samsung Galaxy S8 Wi-Fi 802.11 and / b / g / n / ac and mobile networks. 3G networks with the maximum speed of HSPA 42.2 / 5.76 Mbps, as well as 4G LTE-A (4CA) category 16 networks with a theoretical speed of up to 1024/150 Mbps are available.

A very welcomed new feature is the presence of a new generation Bluetooth connection. For example, the Bluetooth 5.0 offers the ability to connect to two audio devices simultaneously, increases the bandwidth and, of course, also increases the baud rate. Among wireless connections, the NFC is also available, which you can use for contactless payments or several GPS location services.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 also supports A-GPS, GLONASS, BEIDOU and GALILEO to ensure a truly accurate positioning. During our testing, we attempted to connect to all of these satellites and were seamless.

The cable connection is USB-C v3.1, which offers two-way connector support for both charging and PC connection. It should be noted that this is an open connector, even though the device offers an IP68 rating certificate. Before recharging the appliance after immersing it in the water, let the connector dry out well and clean it from time to time to prevent it from becoming dirty and loose during charging.

BATTERY

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is a truly feature-packed device. It features a powerful processor, ultra-fine resolution display, and gestures and system features that you can easily use with joy. But it all hurts on the battery. It has a capacity of 3000 mAh for this model, and although some say that one charge can work with the S8 and the whole day, we have another experience.
The actual battery life is at 30-35 hours, but only if your display is lit for less than 3 hours. Once you want to shoot, turn videos, or make full use of your apps, make sure you charge each evening. And over time this may be even worse. On the other hand, Samsung offers really advanced power saving options, and the Galaxy S8 also supports wireless charging that can be comfortably added to your juice even during the day.

7 hours and 21 minutes is the result achieved by the Galaxy S8 in the PC Mark test

Medium saving mode offers partial shutdown of features, with the device being fully usable. Definitely more interesting is the Battery Extreme Save Mode, which offers up to several times the battery life by changing the screen resolution, applying a dark theme to the system and greatly reducing the features of the device. However, basic features such as calls, SMS, or Internet browsers will remain usable. A similar system was offered by the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, but their display turned into monochrome. This is changing in Samsung’s new flagship generation, which makes us happy. This mode gives you an extra battery life of up to 100 hours per charge, of course, depending on how you use your device.

FINAL RATING

The Samsung Galaxy S8 offers all the benefits of a larger sibling, but in a smaller construction that is easier to control and hold better. It offers really great performance, display, and camera, while the new generation of Samsung Experience demonstrates the direction Samsung wants to take.

The only downside to this device is its battery, which offers only average stamina per charge. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S8 offers fast charging, which can charge the battery from 0 to 100% in less than one and a half hours. You can recharge your smartphone wirelessly during the day.